I was standing on the steps of the Arch fully aware that my fingers were painfully cold when the wrong thought crossed my mind. By “wrong thought,” I mean that one thought that will subconsciously sabotage the important or dangerous thing you are about to attempt. Like thinking, “what if the front wheel just fell off?” as you’re cruising down a winding road on a motorcycle, or “what if I forget my lines?” just before stepping onto the stage.

Before and behind me stood 1,500 people, most of whom I’d never seen before. They had traveled from as far away as Cincinnati, Ohio, Scottsdale, Arizona, Rolla and Kansas City, Missouri, to St. Louis on one to three days notice on a cold workday with snow flurries spitting on their heads. Winds gust to 30 miles per hour, slapping the the tea bags they’d taped to their signs.

But why were they here? Why would they sacrifice to attend a rally called by some blogger they’d never heard of and a conservative radio talk host?

Answers Emerge

Jackie Smith, the hall of fame tight end, took the megaphone and asked, “How many of you are at a protest for the first time in your live?”

Ninety percent raised their hands and hollered.

A Voice, For Once

A small business owner provided the answer to my question: we’ve been afraid to say anything for years.

Political correctness–a Nazi-like, liberal speech suppression technique begun in the 90s–cowed average Americans into keeping their mouths shut for 20 years. Not since the early days of the Reagan administration have conservatives felt free to say, “I love this country because we’re free.” The truth is, if we’re not free even to speak our minds, then there is now “America” to love. There is only a European socialist quasi-dictatorship a little too far west.

The Next One

The Tea Party was only the first step in a march that ends with a Congress that understands that America is not a land, it’s an idea. That idea is that human beings are the best judges of what will achieve happiness. Free to follow that judgment, some will fail, but more will exceed their wildest expectations.

On February 27 in cities from coast to coast, a few hundred people pretended we still have the freedom to pursue our own dreams. We ignored the shackles of political correctness and a semi-fascist president. We hoped to draw out 50 to 100 like-minded souls to begin a movement.

Side Notes: * I finally met Gateway Pundit in person. It was an honor, much like meeting Dana Loesch and Jackie Smith. * Dana Loesch and I met for the first on Friday at about 10:00 a.m. What better testimony to the power of new tools like Twitter and Facebook and email that two perfect strangers would coordinate, split duties, and manage an event for 1,500 people in 4 days. * The next even will be different, bigger, and far more threatening to the left and the national medial. Not violently threatening; politically threatening. They will not be able to bury the story, nor will they escape the consequences. But they will try to prevent it. In other words, this story will have legs.